Railway-motor lubrication.



H. N. RANSOM.

RAILWAY MOTOR LUBRICATION.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20. 1914.

1 ,268 ,6 1 5 Pateliteg JT-une 4, 1918.

o S E $SHEET I.

H. N. RANSOM. RAILWAY MOTOR LUBRICATION.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20. I914.

Patented June 4, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- v 111/111lllilillii/)ll/ll/l/iIk/fi/l filhflflfi n lflwilhl 7 .x 9 2 4 a a r a f 5 7 n. \E k ow Rt 6 Elfi 2 7 L 4 nventor:

OVM-VYW Ml, At Y8.

W KMIZ' by Q ,lllllrllflfll Ir HENRY N. RANSOM, OF NEW YORK, 11'. Y.

RAILWAY-MOTOR LUBRICATION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 4, 1918.

Application filed March 20, 1914. Serial No. 825,949.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY N. RANsoM,

- acitizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway- Motor Lubrication, of which the following is a specification, reference being bad therein-to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to railway motor lubrication, or analogous lubricating systems and more particularly to a novel means for taking care of the lubrication of railway motor bearings, in the standard types of electrically propelled railway cars.

It is to be understood that this invention has no reference to lubrication at the ordinary journal boxes at the two extremities of the wheel shaft which are easily exteriorly accessible and may be satisfactorily taken care of in many well-known modes usually involving an oil supply housing in alinement with the shaft beyond the end thereof. For practical purposes methods of lubrication at the ordinary journal boxes are unavailable at those positions between the car wheels where the motor carrying frame is connected or supported by the wheel shaft'and where the motor armature bearings themselves are located. Different modes have already been attempted to meet the last mentioned conditions.

By way of pointing out certain objects or advantages of the present improvement, I will first refer to the present prevailing s stem and means of railway motor lubricatlon, pointing out some of the heretofore uncorrected defects thereof.

Adjacent to the shaft has been employed abody of waste and adjacent to that an oil pocket, a cover serving to inclose the waste recess and oil pocket. The oiler was compelled to open the cover wide and to pour oil from a can into the upper part of the pocket. This, moreover, had to be accomplished in the very restricted space beneath the car body and presented considerable difliculties. The oil pocket had a constantly open passage at its lower end to the waste recess so that the oil assumed substantially the same level in both, the waste feeding the oil to the shaft. With that system it has been found that the level of the oilin the pocket could not be allowed to run below a certain lower limit or above a certain upper limit, and the oilers difficulties were thus increased by the necessity of carrying and employing a gaging. rod which had to be dipped into the pocket from above and removed for examination before and after the clumsy operation of replenishing the oil by pouring from the can or vessel. The lower and upper limits referred to were necessarily rather close together and, therefore, only a limited depth of oil supply was available and the oil pocket could never be filled up to or above the level of the shaft. The difliculties were such, indeed, that a large percentage, running up to 25%, of oil would be wasted either by spilling during the pouring operations or otherwise. If the oiler happened to pour in an excess supply, which frequently occurred, the waste recess immediately received an excess quantity of oil, causing a flooding of the hearing and resulting in the loss of oil by the leakage thereof from the ends of the hearing, the oil dripping into the roadway or finding its way into the electric motor to the damage of the latter. This was not an infrequent occurrence. The described replenishing operations were time consuming and during their performance the cover had to be left open, thus allowing a certain amount of dust or dirt to enter the oil pocket or waste recess, tending eventually to reach and injure the bearing. It frequently occurred that the cover was left open so that quantities of gravel, dirt, etc, might be admitted, to the destruction of the mechanism. This system compelled a limited size of oil pocket and, therefore, frequent refillings were necessary. Moreover, these various difliculties involved not only the expense suggested but required an intelligent grade of labor and also rendered diflicult the important matter of keeping track of the consumption of oil.

As above stated, the principal object of the present invention is to afford a system and means of railway motor lubrication thoroughly advantageous and practical in overcoming one and all of the existing defects besides possessing simplicity and economy of apparatus and operation. Other advantages hereof will be made apparent during the hereinafter following description or will be understood by those skilled in the subject.

By way of illustration, I will first disclose one form in which the present invention may be embodied and will thereafter point out novel features in the appended claims. I

In the accompanying drawings:

. Figure 1 is a general plan view showing a typical form and arrangement of an electrically driven railway car shaft together with the car wheels, motor and associated parts.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation partly vertical in section on 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. .3 is an enlarged vertical section of bearing, shaft, and housing and contents.

Fig. 4 shows in section on a greater enlarged scale the construction of the oil-containing cartridge.

Fig. 5 is a sect-ion on 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a modification showing in perspective a different form of oil cartridge.

Fig. 7 is a modification showing a different mode of closing and opening the cartridge.

Fig. 8 is a modification showing by a section similar to Fig. 3 a different design and proportions, giving greater compactnessand capacity.

Similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The novel system of railway motor lubrication permitted by this invention comprises the maintaining of a quantity of oil cartridges which are separate, as distinguished from being permanently attached as a part of the oiling apparatus, and each of which is adapted to invertedly set in' a cartridge receiving socket adjacent to the recess which holds the usual body of waste or analogous capillary material and adapted to maintain a given oil level in such recess; fill-- ing such oil cartridges in quantities at the oil house or other place of oil supply; carrying the filled cartridges in batches to the railway cars; and inverting each cartridge and substituting or exchanging it for an exhausted cartridge in the aforesaid socket.

To enable this system to be properly carried out, I prefer to employ the form oflubricating apparatus whose principles are illustrated in the aforesaid drawings and the details of which will now be described. Referring first to the plan and elevation views, Figs. 1 and 2, the wheel shaft 14 is shown as motor. driven. The shaft bearings which give supportto the car body may be in the form of the usual journal boxes at the l ends of the shaft, these being omitted since the present invention has no relation to such journal boxes per se. Near the two endsof the shaft 14 are the car wheels 15. Between the car wheels and suitably connected with the wheel shaft 14 is the motor carrying frame 16 in the form of a housing within which is contained the electrical motor of any desired type, this not being fully shown,

but represented in the drawings by the motor or armature shaft17. I

While the motor carrying frame may be of any desired form or type, it is shown here 1n for convenience as of the inside hung frame 16 may-comprise the following elements: motor bearings located at 19 giving support to the armature shaft and bearings 20 between the frame 16 and the wheel shaft 14 giving support to one end of the motor frame. Thus, there are two motor driven shafts, each having one or more bearings between it and the motor carrying frame. The motor housing 21 is apart of the frame 16. There is also shown commutator cover 22, a gear case 23 containing the gears by which the rotation of the armature shaft issjreduced and transmitted to the "wheel shaft, while a suspension lug or nose 24 is so provided as to give additional support to the motor carrying frame, the lug being either bolted or spring-connected to the transom of the truck.

There are thus four bearings per motor, and

each is. a motor bearing. For each of such bearings is shown a lubricating contrivance according to this invention, those for thearmature shaft being generall indicated at 30 and those for the wheel sha t at 31, Fig. 1.

Such lubricating contrivances 30 and 31 may be substantially similar in all cases and may be according to the illustration in Fig.

' A lubricator housing 36 may form a part of the bearings 19 or 20, for example, by constituting an extension of the sleeve 33. The housing 36, it will be noticed, is arranged laterally adjacent to the shaft and bearing.

That is, it is not in longitudinal line with,

at the end of, the shaft. The housing may take any. desired form-so long as it contains a properly related waste recess and cartridge socket, as will be explained. Preferably the housing willbe' openable at the top side and provided with a hinged cover 37, this being shown as of proper construction to close both thewaste recess and the cartridge socket, and provided with a suitable spring 38 of a construction to hold the cover either-in open or closed position. g I V Within the housing 36 are constituted the waste recess 39 and the cartridgeholding socket 40. The'recess andisock'et may have any desired relation, so :long'as they areinterconnected for the fiow of oil and properly proportioned to permit the operation of the waste from the socket while permitting oil to pass through the wall from socket to recess.

The wall 41 might be in the form of an open "grid.

Within the recess 39 is shown a body of waste 42, and by the term waste it is intended to include any capillary or similar material capable of automatically elevating the oil so as to apply the same to the shaft, the waste being directly in contact with the shaft through the windows 35. It will be understood that the purpose of the body of capillary material within the housing recess and engaging the shaft is to serve as a means whereby oil 1s automatically applied to the shaft upon the rotation thereof.

A removable oil cartridge 45 is adapted to be set and firmly held in the socket 40 in what may be termed inverted position with i an oil exit at its lower end. With the illustrated construction and design of cartridge and other parts, it will be seen that a given oil level is maintained in the socket and in *the recess lower than the level of the shaft,

the latter receiving a proper supply of oil by the capillary action before referred to.

The cartridge.45 ma consist of a cylindrical or other shaped s ell 46 adapted to fit into the socket and the cartridge will,

preferably, be permanently closed at its upper end. As bst seen in Fig. 3, the closed end of the cartridge is provided with a flanged extension 47 serving both as a suitable base when the cartridge is removed and set upright and to form a recess or depression for a knob or handle 48; also as a supporting flange, as shown. The other end of the cartridge is provided with an exit permitting the oil to gradually escape when the parts are in operative position. The cartridge may be filled in any manner, pref erabl through the exit aperture, while it stan s upright upon its closed end or base. The oil exit may be in the form of apertures 49 and these may be adapted to open or close by a valve device 50, for example in the form of an internal disk movable toative position the apertures 49 are supposed to be'open and the rod 51 serves as an auof oil at the shaft.

The vertical position, or rather the height of the cartridge exists, controls the oil outflow by determining the normal level of the. oil in the socket 40 and recess 39. Thus, as shown in Fig. 3, 55 represents the normal oil level in socket and recess, this level being preferably somewhat below the shaft, although the oil in the cartridge 45 may be at the very much higher level 56. The level 55 is calculated so that capillary action will properly supply the shaft. As the oil is consumed during the rotation of the shaft and the level 55 becomes lowered there will be a sufficient uncovering of the exits 49 to admit bubbles of air to the cartridge and permit a small volume of oil to flow out, thus restoring the desired level.

By the described construction, it will be seen that over-pouring and flooding of bearings is avoided. The difliculties in determining the amount of supplied oil are obviated and spillin is prevented. The exchange of cartridges is quickly made preventing infiess of dirt. Frequent fillings are obviated cause of the increased oil capacity, not 100 only because the cartridge can be made to contain oil far above the lower level of the axle, but because the cartridge can be designed with increased lateral proportions.

-The system may be carried out with less skilled and therefore cheaper labor, and the apparatus is practically fool-proof in all respects, there being no probability of.leaving the cover open and no possibility of failing to open the automatic valve. It will be noticed that the cartridge 45 is not merely supported in the socket 40, but is wholly inclosed therein, thus being firmly secured against accident and breakage. The cartridge ma be used over and over again, al' though, i desired, a ve cheap form and material of cartridge might be employed, permitting discarding after each use. The described construction is such as to permit,

if desired, the employment of some sort of a 1 gage indicating the quantity of oil remaining in the cartridge. In fact, the described apparatus secures all the advantages and overcomes all of the defects previously herein noted.

Many obvious modifications in designs, roportions and arrangements may be efected without departing from the general principles described. For example, the oil cartridge 45, instead of being in the form A in Figs. 2 to 7 may be altered to the improvement of the system in the manner indicated in Fig. 8. Thus, the vertical height of the lubricating contrivance may be materially decreased, giving greater compactness'and greater ease of access for the insertion of waste and bartridges, while avoidingloss of capacity, or even increasing capacity by increased lateral dimensions, as

shown, Fig. 8 further shows the cartridge the waste recess and the cartridge pocket .tion also shows instead of a single 45 provided with an interior valveball adapted to close the exit 49 and to be open against the resistance of a spring 66 by a fixed lifting rod 67. This modification also shows shoulders formed at 68 in the cartridge pocket 40 for positioning the cartridge, instead of the shoulders 47 formed on the cartridge'in Fig. 3. This modificaspringheld cover 37 separate covers 69 and 70 for respectively. Thisminimizes the tendency to admit foreign matter to socket or recess. The cover 70 may have an internal'projection 71 assisting to hold the cartridge 45 in place. v, 1

It is obvious that the above described improvement may be utilized in cases where, rather than a capillary material such as waste, some different means is employed for elevatingthe oil from the feed recess in the housing to the shaft or bearing. For example, in cases where ball or roller bearings are employed, the rolling elements, in traveling their circular path, may be caused to dip into the oil supply in the housing recess and thereby properlyv carry the oil to all necessary parts of the bearing. The same would be true in cases where the oil-ring or chain system of lubrication is employed,

' involving a brass or other ring set directly into a recess in the bearing and loosely or otherwise surrounding the shaft, so that the shafts rotation causes the ring to turn, the latter dipping into the oil and thus feeding the oil to the shaft. These equivalent oil feeding means are intended to be covered 1mv here n.

- It will thus be seen that a railway motor lubrication system has been illustrated and described embodying the principles and attaining the objects and advantages before set forth, and other advantages pertaining to the same will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Since many matters of arrangement, design, detail and other features may be variously modified without departing from the novel principles involved, no limitation to such features is intended excepting so far as set forth in the appended claims. What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for the lubrication of railway type motor-driven shafts, including in combination, the rotatable shaft, a bearing formed with an aperture for access of oil to the shaft, a lubricator housing laterallyadjacent the shaft and bearing and formedformed with an aperture for access of oil to the shaft, a lubricator-housing laterally adjacent the shaft and bearing and having an interior wall forming a cartridge socket, portable interchangeable oil cartri ges each readily insertible .in inverted position into and removable detachably from such housing socket, each cart-ridge adapted and arranged to hold oil above the level of access to the shaft, and having its oil exit at its lowerend arranged to maintain in the housing an oil supply suitably below such shaft access level, and means contained in the housing for slowly carrying oil to the rotating shaft.

3. Apparatus for the lubrication of railway type motor driven shafts, including in combination, the rotatable shaft, a bearing formed with an aperture for access of oil to the shaft, a lubricator housing laterally adjacent the shaft and bearing and provided with a connected cartridge socket, portable interchangeable oil cartridges each readily insertible into and removable detachably from 1 such housing socket, each cartridge adapted and arranged to hold oil supply above the level of access to the shaft, and having its oil exit at its lower end arranged to maintain in the housing an oil supply in suitable location for supplying oil slowly to the rotating shaft.

4. Apparatus for the lubrication of railway motor driven shafts, including in combination the rotatable shaft, a bearing between the car wheels beneath the car body and formed with an aperture for access of oil to the shaft, lubricating means laterally adjacent the shaft and bearing and provided with means for supporting an oil cartridge, portable interchangeable oil cartridges each readily insertible into and removable detachabl'y from operative position, each cartridge adapted and arranged to hold oil supply above the level of access to the shaft, and having its oil exit at its lower end arranged to maintain an oil supply in suitable location for supplying oil slowly to the rotating shaft. 7' U V 5. A device for lubricating motor journals for car trucks and the like, comprising a shaft bearing provided with a window on one side thereof, a substantially vertical waste box comprising a chamber into which said window leads, said waste box extending below said bearing to provide a cup for receiving and holding lubricating oil, in combination with a removable closed oil container, means forsupporting the oil container adjacent said waste box, and means to open the lower end of said oil container when in position adjacent said waste box whereby the oil in said container may be antomatically fed into the cup to maintain a substantially predetermined level of oil in said waste box and below the said window.

6. A device of the character described, comprising, a bearing, a cup to hold lubricating oil adjacent said bearing, means to lead the oil from the cup to the bearing, in combination with an interchangeable removable container for maintaining the oil in the cup at a predetermined level, said container having the upper end permanently sealed and having an opening in the lower end, and means to support the container with the said opening adjacent the said predetermined level to permit the oil in the container to replenish the oil being used from the cup.

7. A device of the character described, comprising a waste cup to hold oil adjacent a bearing to be lubricated and extending below the said bearing, an interchangeable removable container for maintaining oil in the cup at a predetermined level, means for supporting said container, and means to open said container beneath the said predetermined level to permit the oil therein to feed into said cup as the oil is used therefrom.

8. In a device of the character described, a motor bearing provided with a window, a waste box adjacent to and inclosing said window and constructed to form an oil receptacle beneath said window, an oil cartridge pocket in open communication with said waste box and being adjacent thereto, in combination with a removable oil cartridge having a valve in one end thereof and having the other end sealed, and means for automatically opening said valve when said cartridge in inserted in said oil cartridge pocket.

9. Lubricating mechanism for electric motor journals and the like, comprising means for maintaining a 001 of oil below the journal to be lubricat a wick member for leading the oil from said pool to said journal to be lubricated, in combination with an interchangeable oil cartridge removable for filling and adapted when in position to have the lower end in open communication with said pool of oil and with the upper end sealed against atmospheric pressure whereby the oil in the cartridge is automatically fed to replenish the oil in the pool at substantially the same rate as the consumption of oil by the bearing.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY N. RANSOM.

Witnesses:

DONALD CAMPBELL, WM. J. DOLAN. 

